American Sign Language: "American-Indian:
See "Native American""

Native American:
Native-American:
Touch an "F" hand to your cheek, then touch your head higher up and back.
Think of an Indian headdress.
Memory hint: Think of the ornamental feathers that Native American's
wear.

Dr. Bill,
I thought the sign for Native American changed to
NATURE + AMERICA + AGENT to be politically correct.
Do you know if this is true?
-Allie

Allie,
I personally don't plan on using the "NATURE + AMERICAN + AGENT"
method. For the time being I still do the old "feather headdress"
version.
The incoming "PC" method I've seen is to rub the back of the
non-dominant hand twice. (Sort of like a "reverse" version of the sign
"PET.") That is a sign that has been borrowed from "Indian (Native
American) Sign Language. As early as 2006 I met someone who said
she saw that way being taught as a variation at Cal State University,
Northridge. Plus I looked in a book of "Indian Sign Language" and
noted that the "rub" method was being used by a Native American.
--Bill

Notes: While conversing in my office with a transfer student (who was Deaf and a
skilled ASL user), I noticed that she did the sign "SURFACE" when referring to
"Native Americans" or what was formerly referred to as "American Indians." I
asked where she got that sign and she indicated that she learned it from a
faculty member at a large university in the Northridge California area.
This doesn't mean that the sign is being taught as ASL at that university, it
simply means that one person showed it to another person and it is being used in
some conversations between some people. The reason why I'm including it
here is because I became curious about the sign and I went to an old "Indian
Sign Language" dictionary and looked up their sign for "Indian." The original
movement of sign for Native American in the "Indian Sign Language" dictionary
was not similar to the ASL sign SURFACE, rather the movement was closer to
the ASL sign "PET" but with a reversed movement - making two forward strokes
(not circular movements as in the sign SURFACE).
It appears that some second language users of the sign have mutated the sign
into using a circular movement of the dominant hand. I will be watching to
see if others adopt either of these versions to replace the existing ASL sign.
The sign is likely to meet with resistance due to looking too much like the
existing ASL signs for "SURFACE" and "PET."
Interestingly enough, it is reasonable to state that this is a sign "some"
Native Americans use or have used to describe themselves via at least one
version of "Indian Sign Language" and at least one published source mentions
that this sign is associated with the color of the skin of Native Americans.

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